


Misdirection

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders' Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-07
Updated: 2007-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-19 12:11:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12410082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: This story starts as a kind of Lily/James/Sirius triangle but it'll straighten out in the end. Set at the end of their 6th year, beginning of their 7th... Lily gets SASSY, Sirius get's JEALOUS and James...well he's just OBLIVIOUS but happily so.





	1. 1. A 'moment'

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**This may seem like a Lily/Sirius fic but it's not, honestly. It just starts off looking that way...confusion would be the word for it. This is set at the end of 6th year and will continue through to 7th. Most teenagers have mixed hormones and misread things and our favourite Hogwarts students aren't any different.**

**Disclaimer- Jo owns it all ... lucky woman that she is.**

 

*

As the common room emptied slowly around her, Lily continued reading her book, oblivious to the time. Even as her eyes began to blur she took no heed to whether or not she should go to bed; the book was getting to the good part. It wasn't till her arm went limp and the book tumbled from her hand and onto the floor that she stopped reading, as now she was asleep. She had a habit of falling asleep whilst reading; never willing to give in to slumber without a hefty fight. But slumber won this particular night and she slept soundly in front of the soothing fire.

  
*

  
Sirius had only come downstairs to retrieve a chocolate frog he'd left on a table; he wasn't counting on anyone being there. His eyes however traveled over the sleeping form of Lily and for a second he was rooted to the spot. He watched as her hair almost reflected the fire's intensity, her chest rose and fell with each delicate breath she took and her dark eyelashes rested gracefully on top of her porcelain perfect skin. He could not keep the sigh that left him.   


Quietly he made his way to her and stroked her arm gently, so as not to startle her too much.  


"Hmmm..." She was rousing slowly, small murmurs escaping her lips. When her eye's finally opened she viewed him with confusion. "...Black?"  


He could not help but smile; she seemed the perfect vision of cute. "Hey Evans...didn't think you'd want to stay here all night." He kept his voice low and soft, so as not to disturb her completely. Stepping to the other end of the sofa from her head he nudged her legs. "Budge up."  


Lily obliged; her head still heavy from sleep as she tried to recall why she was asleep in the common room in the first place, forgetting all about the book on the floor. She didn't understand why Sirius Black was sat at her feet, stroking her ankle softly but didn't question it, feeling slumber tugging at her once more.  


Sirius traced small figure of eights along the inside of her dainty ankle, wondering why it looked so attractive to him; like he wanted to kiss it. He heard a sigh come from Lily and then he spoke. "You've never been too impressed with me, have you Evans?"  


She sighed once more and considered the question. No, she hadn't really ever been impressed by him. "Not particularly." she replied finally, though her voice sounded far away and dreamlike.  


A smile crossed his lips; he'd been waiting for an honest answer. Lily was the person to go to for honest answers. "It's kind of a turn on."  


She frowned. Did she just here him right? "What's that?"  


Suddenly and without warning she felt a body shift silently on top of her. Her legs had automatically spread, whether she'd wanted them to or not, as he slid himself close to her. He could see the shock on her face and suppressed a grin; he was never the sort to be subtle. "I said, it's kind of a turn on."  


Lily lay there with Sirius on top of her not knowing what to do. He was holding himself up by his elbows which were either side of her head so their faces were a mere two inches apart, maybe even closer. She tried to stop the small whimper from leaving her but couldn't. His steal grey eyes looked as sharp as knives, staring straight into hers as she felt his hair flop onto her skin, tickling slightly.  


What Sirius wouldn't do to lower himself completely, but he couldn't. He couldn't give in to this. Slowly instead, his cheek found her soft cheek and his lips found her ear. "I really wish my best mate didn't fancy you so much." He made sure his voice was as rumbling and rough as he could get it. "But he does and I've got to be loyal." Slowly he moved his head back to where it had come from, but touched the tip of his nose against hers.   


There was no way to stop her heart from beating so fast in her chest, or so hard. She'd never been in this sort of situation before; underneath a thoroughly attractive male. His voice had caused shivers down her spine and his eyes were now threatening to make her whimper again.  


With a sigh he resolved to get off her before he couldn't help himself; before his Padfoot instincts came out and all his self control left him. He moved slightly upwards, planted a small kiss on her forehead and whispered "Goodnight Evans." before removing himself from her person, standing up straight and heading for his dormitory.   


Lily lay there for five minutes, not moving a muscle. When he had finally got off her she felt as though she weighed nothing at all, and that her body would simply float upwards. Finally her heart beat calmed down and the heat from her face had cooled and she shifted onto her side, closing her legs. _That was an odd thing to happen_ , she thought numbly, as though her thoughts were not attached to her body in any real way.  


When she was able to get up she left the book which lay forgotten and open at her last page face down on the carpet. The first thing she did when she got up the stairs was to sit on her bed and look out of the window at the stars, wondering what might have happened if Sirius wasn't such good friends with James Potter... She shook herself out of her daydream and proceeded to wake up Mary, who wasn't best pleased.  


"What?!"  


"Mary, budge up. I just had a ‘moment’ with Sirius."  


Mary seemed suddenly awake. "Black?!" 

Lily nodded and climbed in beside her best friend as she whispered what had happened down in the common room mere minutes before, her heart beating faster as she went through it quietly.   

*****

**So there it is. The first chapter...**

**Review?**

**Please...**   


 


	2. Potions Class

**A snippet of the day after. Jo owns all...**

 

*

The day after the whole ‘Sirius Sofa Moment’ (as it had been dubbed), Lily was feeling incredibly paranoid. She could have sworn she caught him looking at her during Charms, but then again, he didn’t act like he’d been staring; he just scanned his eyes over to the corner of the room and yawned widely.   
 

By Potions she was beginning to feel awfully frazzled. There had never been any question as to whether she fancied Sirius Black; the answer was no. Yes, he was incredibly attractive, but no, she didn’t fancy him; he was just too…full of himself, not to mention loud, brash and very inconsiderate. She was aware he was an alright kind of bloke, and that many people were friends with him, but she’d never particularly wanted to get too close.   
 

“Well why don’t you ask him about it?”  
 

“Mary! Are you mad?! I could just see how that conversation would go!”  
 

“For Merlin’s sake Lily; so you’re just going to ignore the fact that he pinned you to the common room sofa and practically told you he wanted you?!”  
 

“Sshhh, Mary!”  
 

The two girls were stood at the open potion cupboard in the back of the classroom, whispering hurriedly. Lily had turned decidedly rosy in the cheeks.  
 

“Come off it Lily, the whole female population of Hogwarts would kill to be in your position last night! So what if James Potter’s still into you! That shouldn’t stop you from a nice fondle with his best mate in a broom closet!”  
 

“Mary!”  
 

“Just a thought…” With this last comment she drifted away, shooting her friend a pointed look before motioning over to the offending seventeen year old, who was bent over his Potions book reading through the method.  
 

Lily finally slunk back to her desk and to the cauldron being methodically tended to by Remus Lupin, her usual Potions partner.   
 

“I added the armadillo bile and gave it a shake but I don’t think I shook it enough…what do you reckon?” His cheeks were slightly ruddy from the heat of the potion and Lily thought absently that a little colour looked good on his usually very pale face.     
 

“Erm…” She glanced down to her Potions note book which was open at her ‘revised’ wit-sharpening potion method. It was ‘revised’ because Lily liked to tamper with all the standard methods for potions, knowing that, from experience, the way ‘Advanced Potion Making’ explained how to brew perfect potions was not so perfect and could almost always be improved upon. “Spit in it.”  
 

Remus raised a quizzical eyebrow. “What?”  
 

Rolling her eyes she let out a long suffering sigh. “Did you, or did you not tell me, at the beginning of the year, that you would do absolutely anything I told you to when in this room in exchange for me sharing my worldly wisdom?! If I tell you to spit then I expect you to ruddy well spit, and not question me!”  
 

He started chuckling. “Why can’t you spit in it?”  
 

With mock indignation Lily raised her hand to her chest. “I, Mr Lupin, am a lady! And ladies don’t spit!” She swatted his arm when he sniggered. “Just spit will you, before you ruin it completely!”  
 

So he spat. Right into the lightly simmering cloudy looking liquid and was relieved, enthralled and impressed when it suddenly turned the jet black colour it was supposed to be. “Well I never.” he muttered quietly.  
 

Lily had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking very smug. “Well? Am I or am I not the worlds best potion maker?”   
 

“Possibly.” he answered slyly before giving her a grin and turning to the very neatly chopped mound of ginger root which was next on the list.   
 

Lily let out another over exaggerated long suffering sigh for good measure and looked about the classroom. All her fellow students were busy. Mary and Susan were squabbling over their cauldron which was emitting very angry looking red steam, Penny and Hank looked like they were discussing something very earnestly and Severus (Lily shuddered slightly like she tended to do when she thought of her ex-best friend) was hunched over his and Isaac’s table working as diligently as always, while his partner looked slightly impressed but didn’t help, as always. In fact the whole class seemed rapped up completely in their tasks.   
 

Except two boys.   
 

James Potter had given up on trying to brew anything worth while months ago, when Lily had taken up the seat just diagonally in front of his. He found concentrating almost impossible. At this moment he was lent on his hand, his glasses were half down his long nose and his mouth was slightly open. His eyes, however, never wavered from their target; a mane of beautifully deep red hair. He hated it when she let it loose in this class; it was distracting enough her being in the same room, let alone shaking her hair around, catching the light and looking stunning.  
 

Sirius Black was used to being left to brew without the help of his best mate; it was an unspoken agreement between them. But today he didn’t feel like doing much of anything. He’d seen James gawking at Lily and felt uncomfortable. Why the hell did James have to turn into a vegetable around her? Why could he not just be normal so that Lily would see he was alright and agree to date him so Sirius would truly know she was off limits? Because the way things were now were too tempting. She wasn’t completely no-go, but she wasn’t exactly fair game either. And Sirius Black always liked to have what he shouldn’t have.  
 

“Are you gonna do something today or just drool over Evans?!” he said sharply, rousing James from his stupor.  
 

“Ya’wah?!” asked James dozily, rubbing a lazy hand through his hair. “It’s Potion’s Padfoot. I don’t do Potion’s. You know that.”  
 

For some reason Sirius found himself getting angry. “Merlin knows it would be too much to ask for you to take five from stalking duty to give me a hand!”  
 

James frowned in confusion. “Alright mate, calm down. Though, I wasn’t even looking at Evans anyway.” He stretched widely. “I was, er…wondering if we should, er, go to the stadium tonight.”  
 

“Yeah right.” Sirius muttered flatly.  
 

“Are you alright Padd? You seem pissed. If it’s about not helping then I will.”  
 

“Just…” He didn’t like being mad at James, especially when it wasn’t his fault, so he softened his voice. “Just stir the potion yeah? While I add the next ingredient.”

*

**This was just a fill chapter, to set the scene. ie- Lily and Remus are friends (obv) James likes Lily (well durr) Sirius is frustraited...**

**anyhow, next chapter everything hot's up nicely.**


	3. You want to kiss me

**Things begin to happen...**

**Disclaimer - not mine...**

 

Most evenings at Hogwarts were mainly spent in the common room, either by the fire with friends or sat finishing homework on the desks but this night was Lily’s patrol duty night. She would have to walk around the upper floor corridors with her fellow Gryffindor prefect, Remus, for a good hour before she could think about sinking into a comfy armchair. It wasn’t too bad though. She’d discovered Remus had a healthy interest in muggle literature so they had something in common. 

It was on the sixth floor when they got split up. Lily's shoe had flopped of her foot as she was shuffling and for some reason it landed further down the corridor. "You go down to fifth Remus, I'll be there in a mo..."

“Alright, see you in a minute.” answered Remus who started down a staircase behind a tapestry which led to the fifth floor corridor.   


Lily squinted into the dim light but couldn’t see where her shoe had gotten to so with an exhausted huff she took her wand from her pocket and said “ _Accio_ shoe.”  


Nothing happened.  


Thinking this was very odd she huffed again. She wasn’t in the mood to play about looking for a lost shoe; she’d spent mot of that morning looking for her hairclips about her bedroom, making her late for breakfast and cranky.  


Slowly she padded down the corridor, peering into the shadows cast by the candles along the walls. Her bare foot was beginning to get cold on the flagstone floor as she became more and more frustrated.  


Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her arm and swung her into a dimly lit alcove. She had been so surprised that she hadn’t had chance to draw her wand and found herself pinned in between a wall and none other than Sirius Black.  


“Hello Evans.” His voice was deep and gruff, the same voice he had used that night on the sofa. “Fancy meeting you here.”  


Feeling very uncomfortable Lily looked out of the alcove and into the corridor, hoping someone would walk past so she could get out of there and have a sit down. “What are you doing?” she asked quietly, trying desperately to put some ferociousness into her voice.  


Sirius shrugged and kept his face neutral as he placed a hand on the wall, slightly above and left of Lily’s head. He looked down to her and said “I found a shoe…you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” 

 That’s when Lily realised that Sirius must have followed her, _accio_ ’d her shoe from her and then stopped her from getting it back so she’d have to come and find it. Silently she wondered if Remus was in on this too. “Give me my shoe back.”

He handed her the shoe and watched as she lifted her leg and slid it onto her foot. It was a tight squeeze but she managed it. He let out a long breath which played with Lily’s fringe before shuffling a little bit closer to her. “How’s patrol? Found anyone canoodling?” 

She knew her cheeks must have been scarlet by now. Sirius’ close proximity was disorientating to say the least. “No.” She had tried to make her ‘no’ sound forceful and angry but it came out quiet and embarrassed. 

“Ah.” was his reply as the hand which had been by his side moved up to her waist. “I do hope Moony isn’t boring you too much.”  


At the added contact Lily physically tensed, and she knew Sirius had felt it. She wished her body wasn’t so bloody obvious. Trying desperately to stop her seventeen year old hormones take control she cleared her head of visions of needy kisses and searching hands and concentrated on the conversation. “No, Remus is very interesting, actually.”  


Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Is he really?”  


She nodded and then there was silence. She felt silly being stood there, mere inches apart from a thoroughly attractive male who was obviously toying with her, not doing anything buy meekly submitting. Lily hated to submit. “Sirius. What are you doing? You haven’t said two words to me in three days, and then that was only because you’d just climbed on top of me.”  


His mouth twitched into a little smirk. “What would you like me to be doing?” Again, he lowered himself closer to her, so his face was inches away from hers.  


_‘Don’t submit, don’t submit, don’t submit’_ Lily thought frantically as she felt his hand move ever so slightly round to her back. “I don’t know, I think I’d kind of like you to get off me.”  


His smirk grew. “Would you really? You see, I don’t think you do.”  


“Oh?”  


“Nope. I think you want me to move a little bit closer.” And he did.   


Her heart was racing but she put it all down to his advances. She’d thought everything over completely since the ‘Sirius Sofa Moment’ and decided she didn’t fancy him, she just fancied a snog; not that she’d admit that to him. “What happened to being loyal to your best mate?” She was satisfied to see a flicker of doubt cross his face quickly.  


“What James doesn’t know, won’t hurt him.” he muttered levelly.   


“What if I told him.” she asked curiously.  


“You wouldn’t…would you?”  


Lily shrugged, feeling better that she had gained some of the power. “Probably not.”  


This made Sirius smile again and continue with his advance. “So.” he said, expectantly.  


“So, what?”  


“So…are you gonna kiss me?” he asked, his eyes locked on to hers.  


It would have been so easy to say yes and just stand on her tip toes to bridge the gap between their lips and Lily wondered how many girls had given in so easily and done just that. “No, I’m not.”  


“Oh?”  


“That’s right. I’m not.” she said flatly.  


“But you want to.” he reminded, his smile not faltering.  


“No, I don’t. You just hope I want to.”  


Sirius shrugged again. “That’s not what your body is saying.”  
 

He had her there. “Look, Black, I’m sorry if you want me to kiss you but it’s just not going to happen. You’re a good looking guy but not my type.”  


This made him chuckle. “You want to kiss me.”  


“No, you want to kiss me.”  


He took his hand from the wall and ran it through his long dark hair but then had to shake his fringe from his eyes. “You want to play games?”  


She knew she should just walk away and leave well alone but she had the annoying habit of not being able to say no to a challenge. “You have one in mind?”  


Grinning again he moved back in close. “I reckon I can get you to kiss me.”  


She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. “Oh really. And just how do you propose to do that?”  


“I can’t tell you! It’d ruin the game.” he said as he rolled his eyes.  


“But you’re the one who wants to kiss me. There is no way I’m gonna try and make a move on you so you’ve lost already.”  


“You’re not that irresistible Lily Evans.”  


“Who waited around in a dark corridor, stole my shoe and pinned me here?” she asked amusedly, enjoying herself immensely.  


“Dunno, but whoever it was needs a good talking to.” he answered with a smile.  


“You’re unbelievable Black.”  


“Why thank you Evans.”  


She stared out into the hallway for a few seconds, fully aware of his eyes on her. This was odd. “So you reckon you can get me to kiss you?”  


“Yup!”  


“And I reckon that by the time I’m through with you, you’ll be on your knees, begging for a snog.” His laugh reminded Lily of a bark from a dog.   


“You’re sure of that, aren’t you?” he asked smoothly.  


“Well you’ll not get anything from me.”  


Suddenly he stood up straight, taking his hand off her waist. “I think we have an accord!”  


“I think we do.” She held out her hand for him to shake, which he did and then looked about them nervously. “Can I leave now?”  


Suddenly Sirius pinned her against the wall again, but a little more forcefully and deadly serious. “Unless you want to go at it now?”  


“Sirius! No I don’t! And you can’t jump at me like that! No taking me by surprise. And no blackmail either!”   


“Alright Evans, alright.” he said releasing her slowly. “And you’re not allowed to mention this to anyone, alright? If Prongs found out I’d be done for.”  


Lily shrugged but nodded nevertheless. Like James Potter ever had a chance with her anyway!   


It was a good job Sirius did let go then and didn’t hang on because at that moment Remus walked past the alcove with a worried expression on his face. “Lily? Where’d you go…” But then he caught site of where Lily had gone, and who she was with. “Padfoot?”  


Knowing how it must have looked and knowing Sirius would be in big trouble if this got out Lily jumped in and created a quick lie. “Remus! Black here had found my shoe! Well, tripped over it more like. On his way to find you…though he won’t tell me what it’s about. I told him he shouldn’t be out of bed after hours.” With this she shot him a stern look before announcing “Well our rounds should be over now, should they not? I’m gonna get back to the common room, I have some revision to get done…can I trust you two to get back to Gryffindor tower without causing havoc? Good, well goodnight then.” And with that she left rather quickly.  


Watching her retreating back, Remus scowled. “Padfoot, what was that all about?”  


Sirius had been impressed by the quickly thought out lie and was desperately trying to think of something he’d need to go and find Remus for. “What do you mean?”  


“I mean, you and Lily…in there!” He pointed into the tight space they’d just occupied.  


“Oh, that. Peeves flew past and we didn’t want to have to deal with him. You know how he gets.” He waved his hand around to dismiss the notion.   


Remus did not look satisfied. “Is something going on?”  


“What? With me and Evans?! Moony mate, are you feeling alright? Come on man; let’s get back to the dorm. I’m knackered after that gruelling training session our dear ol’ captain and best mate put me through earlier.” He was surprised but happy when Remus did not protest or pester him more about it. If James ever did catch wind of his quest to get a snog out of Lily Evans then he surely would die an early death.         

**Thanks for reading. What do you think? Would you care to review? Please...**


	4. The Resist Sirius Black Whilst Simultaneously Trying to Make Yourself Irresistible to Him Game

**I'm not sure if I like this or not...it's a bit uneventful but I just couldn't go from start of the game to Sirius...well, you'll see...don't worry, next chapter will be a little more 'action packed'...**

 

 

Even though she technically promised she wouldn’t tell a soul about the little game she was playing with Sirius, Lily had spilled all to Mary who thought it the best game ever invented. “I swear the ‘Resist Sirius Black Whilst Simultaneously Trying to Make Yourself Irresistible to Him Game’ should be played at parties like pass the parcel and pin the tail on the dragon! Do you need your hair grip?”  


 

Lily ducked her head from the bathroom to see which hair grip Mary was holding up. “Nah, I reckon I should wear my hair loose and wavy; what do you think?”  


 

“Good idea! You could flick it at him too!”  


 

It was morning and Lily was getting ready for the first day of trying to get Sirius Black to jump on her. She was very confident she could resist him and putting every effort in to make sure he couldn’t resist her. “The skirt’s not too short, is it?”  


 

Mary squinted her eyes and put her head to the side, scrutinizing Lily’s skirt. “I don’t think its short enough.”  


 

“Mary! I’m sure if I bent over _now_ my knickers would be on show! So Merlin only knows what’d happen if it were shorter!”  


 

“You just think it’s too short because you haven’t started wearing your skirts yet. You’ve been in trousers since November.”  


 

Stepping out of the bathroom, Lily smoothed out her skirt and said “I’m glad you had that tanning spell. My legs were practically glow-in-the-dark!”  


 

After she’d let out a wolf whistle, Mary stood and grabbed her bag. “He’ll dive across the table to get at you! Do you remember the thoroughly thought out strategy from last night? Good! Now come on, let’s go, before I die of hunger!”  


 

“You know, technically you don’t die of hunger, it’s starvation you die from.” muttered Lily as she picked her bag off her bed and headed for the door.  


 

“Alright Miss Smart-Ass, just let’s get toast before it all disappears into Peter Pettigrew!”  


 

*  


 

“And then he ate it and said ‘Merlin strike me! I never knew they did chocolate flavour!’”  


 

As James Potter and Sirius Black doubled over in fits of riotous laughter, Remus Lupin stared at them as if they’d grown new heads. Peter Pettigrew hadn’t heard the punch line as he was too busy trying to quickly copy down the answers to their Herbology homework.  


 

“Come on Moony! Chocolate flavour!” wheezed James as he wiped underneath his glasses. “Even you’ve got to find _that_ the tiniest bit funny!”  


 

Remus shook his head slightly in disbelief. “No, only _you two_ would find it funny.”  


 

“Wormtail! Wasn’t that funny!?” asked James in the direction of a slightly frazzled looking Peter.  


 

“Err, what?”  


 

“Leave Wormtail out of this; he has to finish his homework otherwise he’ll get put in detention.”  


 

James shot Sirius an amused look, knowing that they were the ones who were making all Peter’s Herbology homework disappear in the first place as revenge for him tipping cold water over them one morning. “How you getting on there Pete?” he asked lightly.  


 

“I’m never gonna finish!” answered the slightly red cheeked boy desperately.  


 

“You’re handwritings looking a bit poor mate.” added Sirius with a piece of bacon in his mouth.  


 

As the three boys who weren’t doing homework descended back into conversation, none of them noticed when a pretty red head and a bonny brunette sauntered over.  


 

“Ah Remus! I wanted to know what you thought to that Potion assignment from yesterday. Have you had a chance to look at it yet?”  


 

Both James and Sirius should have done themselves an injury at the speed their heads shot round to see who was speaking.  


 

“Hi Lily, I err…” but Remus didn’t finish. Instead he sat watching as Lily plonked herself in between James and Sirius on the other side of the table. If he wasn’t so surprised he would have laughed at James’ face; eyes bulging, mouth open, expression vacant.  


 

Sirius had raised an eyebrow and was looking her up and down. He noted the skirt, tanned legs and loose hair and knew they were all for his benefit.  


 

“Isn’t there any marmalade down here?” asked Lily, acting unaware of the eyes staring at her. “Mary love, can you see if there’s some up there? I can’t eat toast without marmalade. I like something _sticky_ in a morning.”  


 

Just at that moment Sirius had taken a swig of pumpkin juice, and just at that moment he nearly choked on it.  


 

Lily turned to look at him recovering, the tiniest hint of a smile behind her eyes so that only he could see. “Were there bones in that bit?” He didn’t have chance to reply as she turned back round to give Remus her attention. He did, however, notice her cross her legs, showing a couple more inches of leg his way. He felt like laughing, but instead he busied himself with trying to ignore it.  


 

James, though, was having trouble eating. In fact, he looked as though he was having trouble doing anything. He’d gone a little flushed in the cheeks and was staring down at his plate rather forcefully, in between catching glimpses of Lily. This made Sirius feel a bit guilty. He knew James turned into a mushroom whenever Lily was about and he knew his best mate was sat there, desperately trying to think of something really funny to say.  


 

And sure enough, James eventually cleared his throat. “Err, Evans…you want to hear a joke?”  


 

“No!” said Remus almost desperately, cutting Lily’s answer off. “I don’t think Lily’s the sort to appreciate a joke like that.”  


 

*  


 

It was in Transfiguration when Lily purposefully lent a little too far over the desk right in front of Sirius and flashed a lot more leg than she might have wished.  


 

“Oh Merlin, Lily! You should have seen his face! And Potter looks like he’s going to need to slink off to the bathroom for some ‘alone time’!”  


 

Lily stifled a giggle behind her hand, turning a very deep shade of rosy pink. “When will you ever stop being so crude Mary?”  


 

“When you stop flashing your knickers to the world and his wife!” answered Mary, a little too loudly for Lily’s liking.  


 

“Will you keep your god dammed voice down? You’re not supposed to know about this, remember!”  


 

“Oh come off it! Do you really think I’d not notice you sauntering around in front of him? I’m your best friend Lily; I’d have figured it out within two seconds. And why shouldn’t I know about it anyway?”  


 

Lily let out a small sigh. “You know why. If Potter caught on it wouldn’t be pretty.”  


 

“What do you care?” asked Mary flatly.  


 

This threw Lily a little. “I don’t know…I just don’t want to be responsible for breaking up best mates, that’s all.”  


 

“So why’d you agree to it in the first place?”  


 

“ _Because_ …” answered Lily with a roll of her eyes. “It was a challenge. And a challenge I knew I could win so…” She shrugged her shoulders. “That doesn’t mean I want those two fighting about it though.”  


 

“Does it not?” asked Mary wisely. “Because we all know how Mr James Potter gets around guys who express a little too much interest in his future wife.”  


 

“Don’t say that Mary, you’re starting to sound like he did last year.” She sounded tired and fed up.  


 

Mary stared out of the window and squinted. “I wonder what Black would look like with a black eye…”  


 

“Probably gorgeous, as per usual.” answered Lily without hesitation.  


 

Raising an eyebrow, Mary sat up straight and considered her best friend. “Are you sure you don’t fancy him even just a little bit?”  


 

“No I don’t. Just because I think he’s handsome does not mean I have to fancy him. It’s about more than looks you know.”  


 

“And who would you lovely ladies be talking about?”  


 

Both Lily and Mary turned to see all four Marauders stood behind them.  


 

“Wouldn’t you like to know Black.” said Lily, in her most come hither voice. She glanced quickly at James who was stood looking very flushed and uncomfortable before turning back round and pointedly ignoring them. This was part of the plan. Give Sirius snippets of attention and then blatantly ignore him. Hopefully it would drive him crazy.  


 

Leaning over to her ear Sirius whispered “I would actually.” He missed the frowns he received off James and Remus.  


 

“Sirius Black!” said Lily loudly, so that everyone could hear. “I will not do what you are suggesting and would be thankful if you keep your smutty suggestions to yourself!”  


 

“Eh?” he asked looking confused.  


 

“Mr Black, what are you doing?” asked Professor McGonagall sternly. “Would you leave Miss Evans alone please and get on with practising the incantation which is the point to today’s lesson!”  


 

Lily shot him a very superior look before turning back round to ignore him once more as Mary giggled silently.  


 

“Sneak.” he muttered quietly as he retreated to the back of the room where the Marauders usually practiced hexes instead. He didn’t quite understand what she was doing. She was _supposed_ to be flirting around him, trying her hardest to make him want to jump her, where as what she _was_ doing was ignoring him and shooting snide remarks his way. The day Sirius Black understood girls would be the day Hagrid flew over Hogwarts of his own propulsion.  


 

James caught him by the arm and whispered “What was that about?”  


 

Hearing the dangerous tone, Sirius shrugged and tried to look stupid. “No idea mate. Pretty sneaky though wasn’t it? Bloody girls.”  


 

“What did you whisper to her?”  


 

“Nothing mate, I was er, just seeing if they were on about you but…well, then Evans alerted McGonagall.”  


 

“Oh right.” James nodded, looking over to the two girls who were laughing.  


 

Sirius had to look away from his best friends face but made the mistake of looking at Remus instead. He had an eyebrow raised accusingly. In the end he just took to examining his fingernails, trying to look casual and guilty of nothing.  


 

Eventually James cleared his throat. “You were right Padder’s. Bloody girls.” He then turned round quickly and hexed an unsuspecting Peter so his feet began an extremely funny Charleston.  


 

 

   


 

  **So there it is, boring I know but next will be better. Remus is a suspicious one though isn't he? I'd love for you to review anyway, even though it aint that good.**


	5. Phase Two! Is it working?

**Here we go...**

 

For a whole week Lily kept up with the strategy she’d thought up with Mary. It was just long enough for Sirius to become more than a little frustrated. He found himself scanning rooms for her, deliberately bumping into her in between classes and even searching the Marauders Map for her tiny labelled dot. Of course he put all this down to wanting to ‘win’ the game. How was he to make her throw herself at him if he wasn’t there so she could do so? Problem was she didn’t look as though she was going to any time soon.  


 

He had thought maybe she’d give in around mid week when they’d mysteriously found themselves alone in the Charms classroom before lessons started (mysteriously meaning he knew she’d be in there so he got there early too, in order to be irresistible). There’d been a lot of smirking, flirtatious glances and Lily had even ‘accidentally’ brushed his leg with her hand…but Darren Hallburk had to go a ruin it by being five minutes early too.  


 

Then there was the night she’d whispered so suggestively in his ear in the common room whilst the rest of the Marauders were up in the dorm room. He wouldn’t have minded throwing her down right there and then if it weren’t for the fact that he would have lost the game. She’d laughed at him, wiggled her eyebrows and then her hips as she swaggered away and up to the girls dorms. He’d taken a particularly cold shower that night.  


 

All the while he kept telling himself that it was all down to the game. _It’s just a bit of fun_ , he would think as he’d brush past her in the hall way and nudge her arm ever so slightly.  


 

*  


 

Aware that her plan had been working, (she made very good use of eagle eyed Mary) Lily decided to change tact and keep Sirius on his toes. So this is where phase two came in.  


 

*  


 

During a very busy lunch break the tables in the great hall were buzzing loudly with dining students. Lily sat within easy listening distance of the marauders which had become a bit of a habit as of late. She’d gotten so used to feeling Sirius’ eyes on her that she completely ignored the fact that James still glanced her way regularly.  


 

When Remus wandered down the isle, late for lunch, in search of his friends Lily made a show of getting his attention. “Remus?! Remus! Hey, come here yeah? Sit with me. I’d like a bit of a chat.”  


 

His face seemed puzzled and he shrugged at his other three friends before making his way to Lily and sitting in the seat she had saved for him. “What’s up Lily?” he asked curiously as he helped himself to lunch.  


 

“Oh, er…we never seem to just chat anymore, you and me. It’s always about Potions usually so I was just wondering what’s going on in the world of Remus Lupin?”  


 

He obviously thought this a very odd thing to wonder but he humoured her politely as Remus tended to do.  


 

Lily was acutely aware of the eyes boring into her from a little up the table as she lowered her voice so it was only audible to Remus and Mary.  


 

Sirius felt something hot in his chest as he watched Lily laughing at something Remus had just said. He could feel himself getting angry and didn’t quite know why. It _should_ have been because James was sat next to him looking dejected and jealous but knew it wasn’t. He took to just glowering at his peas and grunting his replies to questions from Peter about their next planned full moon escapade.  


 

Just before afternoon lessons began Sirius took Remus aside and for some completely unknown reason, started having a go at him.  


 

“What were you playing at?!”  


 

Remus looked confused and highly affronted. “Excuse me?”  


 

“Evans! What did you think you were doing?!”  


 

Opening and closing is mouth a few times made Remus look like a goldfish before he repeated “Excuse me?” again.  


 

“Prongs!” Sirius almost barked, using the only excuse for his tirade he could think of.  


 

“I was only talking to her.”  


 

“Oh yeah right. Looked mightily friendly from where I, we were sat!”  


 

Suddenly Remus narrowed his eyes. “Did Prongs say this?”  


 

Sirius instantly regretted starting this confrontation. “No, but he didn’t have to! I could see it in his face! You know the daft blokes smitten!”  


 

“Are you sure he’s the only one?”  


 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  


 

“Oh I think you know precisely what it’s supposed to mean! I’ve seen you Padfoot. You look for her, stare at her and use any excuse to go near her!” Remus stood firm as he was sure of what he’d been witnessing over the past week. “Are you sure it was Prongs who was jealous and not you?”  


 

“Now that’s out of order Moony!” warned Sirius, clenching his hands into fists but controlling his anger.  


 

“Yes Sirius, I’d say it was.” said Remus steadily.  


 

The only thing he could think of doing was storming away and that’s precisely what Sirius did. The nerve and gall of Remus to suggest Sirius was jealous! It wasn’t as if he properly fancied Lily anyway. He just wanted a chase and a good old fashioned snog at the end of it. At least he had the common decency to do it out of view of James. Remus sat there with her, flirting away as if James didn’t even exist! That was just plain inconsiderate! Or so Sirius thought, anyway.  


 

So for the rest of the day the tension between the group of four guys could be cut with a knife and spread on toast. James was trying not to speak to Remus, Remus was disgusted with Sirius, Sirius was angry (and when he’s angry he just about directs it at anyone), and poor Peter didn’t quite know if he’d done something wrong. It’s funny to think that by the next morning they’d all be alright again. It was something about the dynamics of their group that limited their arguments to days at a time (surely a boy thing).  


 

*  


 

The library was never a usual hang out for the likes of Sirius Black, but when he had to complete a whole Arithmacy project for the next day he couldn’t very well ignore its existence.  


 

Leaving a quietly reading Remus sat at his desk, Sirius went out in search of books but found Lily Evans. But at the precise moment he saw her, a shot of something ice cold went through his chest and his stomach turned. Stopping dead he just stared at her as she stretched high up onto the shelf to retrieve a book. Her hair was in a pony tail, her jumper riding up her back slightly and her legs were lean and shapely. Another shot hit him as his mind began to race. He quickly scanned round him for any explanation as to why he’d feel like someone was shooting him with icicles.  


 

He slowly backed away and stood behind a bookshelf so she wouldn’t see him. ‘ _What the hell?’_ he thought.  


 

Suddenly she swept passed and noticed him. Her smile was wide as she looked him up and down. “Well, well, well…Sirius Black in a library! I never thought I’d see the day! Not in here for any _specific_ reason, are you?” She beamed at him and waited for his reply.  


 

But Sirius couldn’t reply. It was the oddest feeling. His palms were sweaty and he knew his cheeks were reddening. He desperately tried to think up something debonair but his mind was sluggish and heavy.  


 

Slowly Lily’s smile slipped and she ended up peering at him with concern. “Are you alright Black? You look ill. No you really do. Are you feeling well?”  


 

Sirius stood stock still as she placed her hand on his forehead to check his temperature. The tingle the contact left on his skin was bizarre. “I…I’m fine.”  


 

“You don’t look fine…” She looked him up and down again but this time suspiciously. “Do you need to go to the hospital wing? I’ll go with you if you like.”  


 

“No!” he found himself saying loudly before checking himself and lowering his voice. “No, I’m fine, really. It’s just a bit hot in here…don’t you think?”  


 

She shook her head and her pony tail flicked out behind her. “No, I think it’s just nice.”  


 

“Yes, well…” he cleared his throat and tried to find an excuse to get away from her. “I’ve got some work to do and…” he picked up a random book from the side. “…oh look, this is the book I was looking for! I’ll err, see you later Evans.”  


 

“Yeah…see you later…” she muttered as she watched his retreating back with her brows furrowed.  


 

When Sirius got back to the safety of his table he sat and plonked his head on the table top rather forcefully.  


 

Remus looked over and scanned the book he’d grabbed in his bid for freedom. “Padfoot. I don’t think ‘ _101 ways to transfigure aquatic life to ornament your home_ ’ is going to help with Arithmacy.” When Sirius didn’t reply Remus looked a little closer at his friend. “Padfoot?”  


 

Sirius felt like dying inside. How could he let this happen? How? He knew he shouldn’t have let his hormones get the better of him and set up that stupid game! And now…well now… What about James? James his best friend and brother. Sirius felt like he _deserved_ to die inside.  


 

“Padfoot?! What’s going on?”  


 

Slowly and quietly Sirius came clean. “I think…I fancy Lily Evans…” 

**Review maybe? Yeah? Please?**


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